I’ll be quick on this one, as I think AdAge covered the facts of the situation pretty well. Former Google Exec and current Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer has made it clear since her arrival that Video was key – it’s a $70 Billion market that Yahoo’s barely scratching the surface of.
Yahoo came to Dailymotion in 2012 in hopes of acquiring 75% of the company and making it the #1 alternative to YouTube – a title Dailymotion already possesses, however, it doesn’t have the backing of a major media company with a video ad network and the reach to bring Dailymotion to the masses. Youtube video creators are already upset with YouTube’s profit-sharing model – I enjoyed Jason Calacanis’ talk on this at the VidCon 2013 – and Yahoo thinks that offering better deals to creators will get them to jump ship, and they’re probably right.
YouTube creators already work endelessly to get users to engage with them outside of YouTube – imagine Cyprien, Norman, and Rémi Gaillard (3 of France’s largest online video stars) move off of YouTube? Sure, they’d lose some of their audience, but if the ad gains off-set that, it’d still be worth it.
While all this is happening, Dailymotion will be watching from the sidelines. Why? Because Arnaud Montebourg didn’t want Dailymotion to be sold off to some American Giant, because French companies need to compete against Google and the like. Well, what happens when the two aren’t mutually exclusive?